Drilling Procedure

With the rig in position and the conductor pipe in place, drilling is begun. The largest
bit is the first to be run, of course. The drilling program is designed so that the initial
bit will drill a hole large enough for casing that can accommodate successively
smaller bits and casing strings. The number of casing strings necessary to reach the
target depth safely will deter mine the initial hole size. Attached to the bit are the
first drill collars and stabilizers, followed with joints of drillpipe.

Weight is applied to the bit by allowing the bottomhole assembly to rest on bottom
somewhat, and the rotary table begins to turn the kelly. As the bit chews away at
the bottom of the hole, the mud pumps circulate the cuttings up the annulus. The
kelly slowly moves down ward until the top of the kelly and the attached swivel are
near the drilling floor (after about 30 to 40 ft [9 to 12 m] has been drilled). From
now on, each time a kelly length has been drilled down, another joint of drillpipe is
added to the drillstem. The new joint of pipe will have been hoisted into the "mouse-
hole" in preparation, waiting to be connected ( Figure 1 , Notice that the kelly has
been "drilled down" to where the swivel is close to the rotary).

Figure 1
The kelly and attached drillstring are lifted up in the derrick until the kelly bushing
has cleared the drill floor and the tool joint between kelly and drillpipe is visible. Slips
(flexible, toothed wedges) are set in the rotary table to grip the drill-string and allow
it to hang motionless while the crew "breaks out" (unscrews) the kelly with the
rotary tongs.

These tongs are nothing more than over-sized pipe wrenches hung from the mast,
over the drill floor, and pulled by a cable from the drawworks ( Figure 2 and Figure 3
).

Figure 2

Now the kelly is hanging freely from the hook,

 Figure 3

and the crew can swing it over to the pipe joint that is waiting, "box end up," in the
mousehole ( Figure 4 ).
 Figure 4

The kelly is screwed into the new joint and both are then lifted up into the derrick
and swung over the drillstring held by the slips. The driller lowers the assembly and
carefully "stabs" the pin of the new joint into the box end of the waiting joint. The
pipe is quickly screwed together and tightened with the tongs before the slips are
removed. The entire assembly is then lowered back into the hole to drill another joint
length. After each kelly has "drilled down" 30 ft to 40 ft (9 to 12 m), the connection
process must be repeated, joint after joint, as the hole is deepened.

At some point it becomes necessary to pull out ("trip out") of the hole, perhaps to
change the bit or to run casing. When making a trip, drillpipe is handled in stands,
usually of two or three joints each (about 60 ft to 90 ft, or 18 m to 27 m). Pipe is
removed from the hole and placed on the floor. First the kelly, rotary bushings, and
swivel are stowed in the "rathole," as shown in Figure 5 .
 Figure 5

With this equipment out of the way, the elevators, which hang from the hook, can be
latched around the pipe just below the tool joint box and used to lift the pipe out of
the hole. When a stand of several joints has been pulled up into the derrick, the slips
are used once again to hang the drillstring in the rotary table while the bottom tool
joint is 'broken" with the tongs and unscrewed with a spinning wrench ( Figure 6 ).
 Figure 6

The stand of pipe is then swung to one side of the drill floor, where it is set down (
Figure 7 ) and secured at the top by the derrickman.
 Figure 7

Free of their load, the hook and elevators are lowered once again to grip another
stand of pipe and repeat the process, until all of the drillstem is racked in the derrick.
The bit is removed from the final stand of drill collars with a "bit breaker," and the
rotary table is carefully covered to pre vent any loose items from falling into the
hole. "Tripping in" the hole is the reverse procedure of tripping out.

Some rigs have automated pipe handling systems with robot arms at different
elevations in their masts to perform the job very quickly. Tripping in or out can take
many hours in a deep hole, and time is money on a drilling rig. Careful planning and
monitoring of drilling conditions by the driller and drilling engineer can prevent
unnecessary trips.

When the surface hole has been drilled out of the conductor, as deep as 5000 ft
(1524 m) in some cases, the surface casing must be set before drilling can continue
further. This casing is set for several reasons:

 to protect shallow freshwater aquifers from contamination;

  to support the unconsolidated, low pressure formations nearer the surface
and prevent the loss of drilling mud as it is weighted up to permit deeper
drilling;

 to provide a base for well control equipment.

Up to this point, the shallow drilling has been done with a diverter system at the surface to simply
divert any high pressure gas flows away from the drilling floor in case of a shallow "kick." Now a
complete blowout preventer stack needs to be installed on top of the surface casing, to allow the
safe control of pressure encountered at greater depths. But first we must run the casing.

After the pipe is tripped out of the hole, the casing crew moves in and runs the
casing in much the same manner as the drillpipe is run into the hole. Special casing
elevators, slips, and tongs are required, however, to handle the large diameter pipe.
Surface casing may run from 9-5/8 in to 30 in (24 to 76 cm) in diameter. Several
items incorporated into the casing string are described as follows:

 Guide shoe: A guide shoe ( Figure 8 ) is attached to the bottom of the first joint of
casing lowered into the hole. Its rounded nose facilitates the movement of the casing
down the hole.

Figure 8
 Float collar: This component ( Figure 9 ) is placed several casing lengths
above the guide shoe, and contains a one-way valve.

Figure 9

This backpressure valve enables the casing to ""float" down the hole by
preventing the entry of drilling fluid into the casing. The valve also prevents a
blowout through the casing, should a kick occur during the cementing
operation, and prevents backflow of cement after pumping.

 Centralizers and scratchers: The first of these components holds the casing
away from the wall of the hole; the second abrades the mudcake when the
casing string is reciprocated (moved back and forth in the hole). This
procedure ensures a uniform distribution of cement around the pipe, and
good bonding among pipe, cement, and formation ( Figure 10 ).
 Figure 10

The cementing procedure can vary in its complexity, depending on the depth of the hole, the
number of stages required to fill the annular space between casing and hole, and the possible
need for remedial cementing if the first job is insufficient. The procedure for conventional single
stage cementing is illustrated in Figure 11 ,
 Figure 11

Figure 12 and Figure 13 .

 Figure 13

Figure 12

With the casing near bottom, several barrels of water "spacer" are pumped into the
casing, followed by a rubber plug that seals against the inside wall of the casing as it
is pumped down the hole. The plug serves to isolate the cement slurry, which has
been mixed at the surface and pumped immediately behind the plug. When the
amount of cement calculated to be required to fill the space between the casing and
the hole has been pumped, another plug is inserted into the casing. Drilling mud is
then pumped behind the second plug to push the progression of water, plug, cement,
and plug, down the casing. When the first plug reaches the float collar, a diaphragm
in its core breaks under pressure, and the cement slurry moves through the float
collar valve, around the shoe, and up the annular space between the hole and the
casing. When the second plug reaches the float collar, all the cement has been
displaced around the casing, leaving only a small amount inside the casing between
float collar and guide shoe. The second plug will not rupture, and the increase in
pump pressure at the surface tells us our job is almost complete.
The volume of cement pumped must be carefully calculated to ensure that it is
sufficient to fill the annulus between casing and hole. When the cement has '"set"
sufficiently, the drillpipe can be run back into the hole (with the next smaller bit, of
course) and the entire assembly of plugs, float collar, cement, and guide shoe can be
drilled through as the hole is deepened. (These components are constructed of
materials that allow them to be easily drilled through.) With the casing securely
cemented in the hole, the hole can be safely deepened without fear of losing
circulation into the shallow, low pressure formations.

As drilling continues, successive casing strings will be run and cemented

concentrically to isolate and protect the intervals of openhole. After the hole is
deepened from the surface casing shoe, an intermediate casing string may be set,
possibly followed by a casing liner . A casing liner is a string of casing, set from
inside the intermediate casing extending down ward into the open hole, but not
necessarily "tied back" to the surface. This saves the cost of casing the entire hole
length, when safety concerns do not require it. Finally, production casing is run to
bottom when the total depth of the well has been reached. This string protects the
producing formation and allows for the tubing to be easily installed. On most wells,
sufficient depth is drilled to ensure an adequate "sump" or "rathole" below the
producing interval: this is the space in which junk and debris may accumulate during
the completion process.

When not making a connection or trip ping, the driller is doing what we would expect
"drilling ahead!" Standing at the control console on the drill floor, the driller monitors
and adjusts several important drilling parameters. Weight on bit (WOB) is displayed
on the weight indicator and is adjusted by lowering and raising the drillstem to allow
more or less of its weight to rest on the bit. The driller also monitors rotary speed to
make sure that the combination of rpm and WOB is correct for efficient drilling. A
mud level recorder, torque indicator, and pump pressure gauge allow the driller to be
quickly informed of any anomalous situation that could indicate a potential problem.
An important device, often located in the driller's "doghouse," is the drilling rate
recorder, which keeps a log of depth drilled versus time. Both the geologist and
engineer use this device to keep track of drilling depth versus time.